1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the reconditioning of the metal shell casings of used rifle or pistol ammunition for eventual re-use. More specifically, it provides a device designed to facilitate the lubrication of the exterior of a shell casing which makes it possible to force the shell casing into a constricting die.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention, a so-called shell lubricator, is a device designed to lubricate the external surface of the metal shell casing of used rifle or pistol ammunition, which is frequently a necessary first step toward reconditioning them for re-use.
Rifle and pistol enthusiasts, who perhaps shoot as a hobby or sport, and hunters and other outdoorsmen, are all well-acquainted with the desirability, often a necessity, of reconditioning the shell casings of spent ammunition for eventual re-use. This is primarily motivated by the high cost of ammunition. Part of this high cost, in turn, can be accounted for by the high cost of the metal used to form the shell casing. Frequently, brass is used for this purpose. Brass has become quite expensive in recent years.
Experienced shooters can reduce their ammunition costs, and at the same time increase their opportunities for participating in their chosen hobby or sport by re-packing the spent shell casings with powder and a bullet for re-use. Unfortunately, this procedure is complicated by the effect the previous use of the shell has on the structure of the shell casing.
When the rifle or pistol is fired, the gunpowder within the shell casing explodes, and the expanding gases produced by the explosion drive the bullet forward out the barrel. The metal shell casing left behind can then be ejected from the rifle or pistol. The heat and forces of expansion have the tendency to stretch the shell casing from its original, exact size. If repacked with powder and a bullet in this condition, it could well turn out to be impossible to reload it into a firearm because of its possible departure from exact measurement tolerances. A distortion in size of only a few thousandths of an inch can render a shell casing unsuitable for re-use.
Such distortion can be corrected by using a constricting die of the exact diameter required for the particular variety of ammunition. These dies are formed from an extremely hard material, such as arborundum.
In some ammunition, the shell casings are essentially cylindrical in shape, and have an open end and a closed end. It is a relatively easy matter to re-size shell casing of this sort by forcing them, open end first, into dies of appropriate diameter.
In other ammunition, the shell casings are of a more complicated geometry. One could describe this geometry as being vaguely bottle-shaped, due to its having a cylindrical portion of one diameter which narrows at a certain point to a cylindrical portion of smaller diameter. In this case, the open end is on the portion of smaller diameter.
Reconditioning dies for constricting and re-sizing shell casings of this type are readily available. However, it is much more difficult to force this kind of shell casing into the appropriate die. Indeed, it is virtually impossible to do so without first lubricating the exterior surface of the shell casing with grease or oil to permit its complete entry into the die.
According to the prior art, this lubrication is accomplished using a resilient, absorbent pad, containing grease or oil, and having an appearance similar to that of an inked stamp pad. The shell casings to be reconditioned are placed on the grease pad and rolled back and forth with a hand motion to coat the outer surfaces with the lubricant.
This procedure has the disadvantage of being extremely slow and time-consuming. To make matters worse, the hand of the user gets completely coated with grease or oil as well as the shell casing and, in time, the skin of the hand becomes chaffed and irritated by this repetitive action.
With the present invention, rifle and pistol enthusiasts are provided with an alternate, and improved, device for lubricating the external surfaces of spent shell casings.